Maloof Money Cup 2010 Day 1 Blog

Day one of the OC Maloof Money Cup 2010 was a little more mellow, if “a little more mellow” can sum up that there weren’t as many people in the crowd, but the skateboarding was still top damn notch. Tomorrow’s when the official competition starts with the 35 skaters already qualified. That’s when the crowd starts to swell and eventually Ludacris or Soulja Boy or whoever else is supposed to show up to play the crowd, make their appearance (I seriously don’t know who it’s gonna be… those were just guesses). However, day one held the Last Chance qualifiers, the chance for some of skateboarding’s best that weren’t on that list of 35, to win one of two spots to go onto tomorrow. Obviously, if you saw the video, you probably think you’ve seen it all. But, did you see Fabian Alomar in that vid? Ex-Bootleg pro Brian Michaud chillin’ on the sidelines? Ultimate pfans?

This was on the way in. David Gravette was skating the mini Mega rail. Here’s a crooked grind attempt. I guess he didn’t land it after all, but he did 50-50 it. Go figure.

The crowd wasn’t as thick, but fans were there. Kurtis Colamonico was there all G’d out and tatted up front blunting the rail, but who’s that super fan over on the right getting a few clips?

Oh, shit, it’s Pfanner pfanning out. Meanwhile, Greg Hunt gets the second angle. Sadly, that means that, in the very least, there were three grown men documenting one another in the process of this picture – me, Greg Hunt and Pfanner.

Dayum Gina! Ishod Wair tries to avoid Austyn Gillette’s dipped Smith as he and Thersley – I mean Theotis – admire the form. While the rest of the course was being shredded, these ams rolled around on the open sections.

Yup, there he is… none other than Hallelujah’s Pete Eldridge. But, guess who that is behind him in the green hat. Get it? It’s former kalashnikov wielding Bootleg teammate Brian Michaud.

Yes, this guy was there. Every time he rolled by, it sounded like papers shuffling. Then I realized it was just him whisper rapping… nah, I’m just kiddin’. This time around, JR let his skating do the rapping. And, it did not whisper.

Some top-notch announcing by Ryan Clements, while the media get their best shots. Nice haircut Thiessen.

Theotis and Nick Merlino enjoy the beach – Nick a little more than Theotis, I think. Fits right in up there, doesn’t he?

A stoic child and a humorous grown man – there are all kinds. Austyn Gillette and Enrique Lorenzo watch on as the last chance comp goes on.

DC Shoes has their own chairs. DC mastermind Josh Kalis was there enjoying the show.

Before their heat, Anthony Shetler and Fabrizio got a feel for the course. Shetler tre flips the rock gap as The Breeze handboards.

Meanwhile, ams like Ishod Wair were just shitting on all the open sections of the course. Noseblunt. This kid’s good.

Fabian Alomar’s back and in good spirits. He came out to check the skating out. For more on where he’s been, check out our August 2010 issue.

Arto Saari was vying for the Last Chance spot. Dude’s got proper style on this backlip.

Sure, we used it as a marquee already, but I could watch this kind of style all day. Kenny Anderson, AKA the perfect man, front feebles around the curved ledge to stop the pollution.

Langi real good. Front feeble stall to fakie on the rock.

Please excuse the next few pictures. It’s hard to take good action pictures at dawn with a point and shoot and no flashes. But, this is just to show Jereme Rogers in action. He got the first spot in the Last Chance qualifiers. Warm-up noseslide. He did a lot more than this, though.

Then, Chris Haslam got the seconds Last Chance qualifier spot. Backside noseblunt. After this, it all wrapped up. Congrats to Chris and JR for advancing.

Elsewhere at the OC Fair, the goats were having their own face off. The one on the left was crazy and biting that little guy’s ear on the right.

Chris Thiessen, his wife Christy and I came across this domestic animal scene and while we were passing by, one of the am skaters that was messing around on the course, disgusted as he passed, said, “That’s f–ked up!” Peter Sanger would agree.

The OC Fair. Right now, people are eating hog legs, funnel cakes, fried Snickers and drinking ten dollar beers, while they wait for the carousel. More tomorrow.